EDITOR’S NOTE: I’ve asked Phawker contributors to send in dispatches describing their lives under quarantine. Enjoy. BY DAN TABOR FILM CRITIC So, for my day job, I do IT. Luckily it’s something you can do from almost anywhere. I work for a successful local non-essential retailer whose home offices are based in Center City. Our stores may be closed for the time being, but retail life is all about planning ahead — since it can sometimes take 3 to 6 months to get a product in stores. So currently all of corporate is working from home, pulling normal 8 hour […]
CINEMA: The MAGA Hunters
THE HUNT (Directed by Craig Zobel, 89 minutes, USA, 2020) BY DAN TABOR FILM CRITIC The Hunt is a guns-blazing riff on the classic humans-hunting-humans short story The Most Dangerous Game, with a very relevant Age of MAGA twist. The plot revolves around a Pizza Gate-style conspiracy called “Manor Gate” — an email chain conspiracy theory about a farm where a group of liberal elites hunt Trumpers after giving them a weapon and a head start into the woods. While the film is careful not to invoke Trump’s name in the film, it’s pretty clear who these right-wing folks voted […]
CINEMA: Open Wide
SWALLOW (directed by Carlo Mirabella-Davis, 94 minutes, USA, 2019) BY DAN TABOR FILM CRITIC Swallow, the directorial debut by Carlo Mirabella-Davis, stars Haley Bennett as Hunter, a timid, blue collar woman who has married into a wealthy, overbearing family. Hunter spends her days cloistered in newfound luxury, decorating the exquisite home gifted by her husband and in-laws, who pressure her into a pregnancy she is at best ambivalent about. Katelin Arizmendi’s sublime cinematography imbues Hunter’s antiseptic surroundings with an almost otherworldly quality. Desperately searching for a way to take back control of her life, Hunter soon comes down with pica, […]
Q&A W/ Swallow Director Carlo Mirabella-Davis
BY DAN TABOR FILM CRITIC A few weeks ago I got to chat with Carlo Mirabella-Davis, the writer and director of the unconventional psychological thriller Swallow, which opens in Philadelphia tomorrow. The upstate New York native’s feature length directorial debut stars Haley Bennett (The Girl on the Train) as the immaculate Hunter, a timid woman who married into a wealthy family and is now a stay at home wife. Desperately searching for the means to regain some semblance of control over her life, Hunter develops pica, a psychological disorder where you swallow things that no human should ingest: thumb […]
CINEMA: Indivisble
THE INVISIBLE MAN (Directed by Leigh Whannell, 124 minutes, USA, 2020) BY DAN TABOR FILM CRITIC The latest cinematic take on the H. G. Wells classic The Invisible Man, which hits theaters today, veers away from the source text to tell a much bleaker story, that is as much about domestic violence as it is its titular metaphorical monster. Set in modern day San Francisco, the film opens with Cecilia ( Elisabeth Moss) fleeing her abusive husband, who made his fortune in the field of optics. When he dies two weeks later due an apparent suicide, Cecilia inherits $5 […]
CINEMA: Q&A W/ Emma Actress Anya Taylor-Joy
BY DAN TABOR FILM CRITIC It’s hard to believe Anya Taylor-Joy has only been acting for six years. After being “discovered” by a modeling scout while walking her dog, she effortlessly made the jump to acting, quickly landing her first starring role in the excellent gothic coming of age fairy tale, The Witch. Born in Miami, the youngest of six children, Anya spent the bulk of her childhood shuttling between Argentina and England, before eventually settling in New York at 16 to pursue acting full time. Since then, she has worked with such directors as Robert Eggers, Edgar Wright […]
CINEMA: Bitches Brew
GRETEL & HANSEL (directed by Oz Perkins, 97 minutes, USA, 2020) BY DAN TABOR FILM CRITIC Gretel & Hansel, the new film by director Oz Perkins (The Blackcoat’s Daughter), is an eye-dazzling new take on the Brothers Grim classic. Gretel is played by Sophia Lillis whose complex and remarkably empowering take on Beverly Marsh in 2017’s It was easily one of the best parts of that adaptation. While this recent subgenre of expanding on these familiar stories we thought we knew is nothing new, rarely do we see them take the approach on screen here. The film’s visual palette channels […]
CINEMA: It Came From Outer Space
COLOR OUT OF SPACE (Directed by Richard Stanley, 111 minutes, USA, 2020) BY DAN TABOR FILM CRITIC Richard Stanley’s hotly-anticipated adaptation of H. P. Lovecraft’s Color Out Of Space is the director’s first feature film since he was fired mid-production from The Island of Dr. Moreau back in 1996. The daring documentary Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley’s Island of Dr. Moreau tells the insane story of the director getting fired from the film early into production, and chronicling him hiding in the nearby rain forest only to infiltrate the set as a costumed extra. Color Out Of […]
CINEMA: Paths Of Glory
1917 (Directed by Sam Mendes, 119 minutes, USA, 2019) BY DAN TABOR FILM CRITIC It’s officially peak awards season and that means war movies, because awards show voters love a man in uniform. Enter 1917 is the latest film by director Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Skyfall) who, along with cinematographer Roger Deakins (Bladerunner 2049, The Shawshank Redemption, pretty much every Coen Brothers movie), has produced a film that took home two Golden Globes recently causing a major upset in both the Best Picture and Director categories beating out Once Upon a time… in Hollywood, and The Irishman. Co-written with […]
CINEMA: Dan Tabor’s Best Movies Of 2019
10. Dolemite Is My Name (Dir. by Craig Brewer, 118 minutes, USA) Equal parts heartwarming and hilarious, Dolemite Is My Name is a love letter to 70s blaxploitation cinema taken to the next level by the glorious return of Eddie Murphy. The film chronicles the journey of comedian-turned-blaxploitation legend Rudy Ray Moore (Murphy), who when he was told there wasn’t a place for him on the silver screen, made his own way and brought his friends along too. I’m not traditionally one for feel good fare, but thanks to its raunchy protagonist, who also happens to be a consummate […]
NPR 4 THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t
FRESH AIR: I’m Terry Gross. My guest Adam Sandler is famous for his comedy films and his work on “Saturday Night Live” in the ’90s. But he’s also given some terrific performances and dramas. He stars in the new manic thriller, “Uncut Gems,” which was written and directed by the Safdie brothers – Josh and Benny Safdie – who are also with us. Sandler plays Howard Ratner, a jeweler in Manhattan’s Diamond District who always has a deal or a con going on and never stops talking. And he’s a gambler. He’s made a lot of money and lost a […]
CINEMA: Jedi Nights
THE RISE OF SKYWALKER (directed by J.J. Abrams, 141 minutes, USA, 2019) BY DAN TABOR FILM CRITIC At the end of The Last Jedi, we witnessed Luke Skywalker sacrifice his life so the remnants of the Resistance could escape aboard the Millennium Falcon. This was after Kylo Ren promoted himself to supreme leader by killing the mysterious Snoke, and offering Rey a place at his side ruling the galaxy. Rian Johnson’s The Last Jedi made some bold choices compared to JJ Abrams’ fan service-y The Force Awakens. This created a rift between those fans that wanted a new drug and […]
CINEMA: Hot Rocks
UNCUT GEMS (directed by Ben & Joseph Safdie, 135 minutes, USA, 2019) BY DAN TABOR FILM CRITIC There were several points while watching Uncut Gems that my Apple Watch began to go off letting me know that my heart rate was getting out of control, and that I needed to take a moment to “breath.” Watching the film in a darkened theater, I felt very much like its protagonist – trapped, anxious and fearing for my own sanity. It was during the third haptic Apple Watch alarm that I knew I was witnessing one of the best films this year. […]